Monmouth County Resident Charged with 15 Vehicle Burglaries, Among Other Charges

Hazlet residents can rest easy at night, now that police have arrested a Port Monmouth resident believed to be responsible for over a dozen vehicle burglaries recently.

Kevin J. Cunningham, 30, was questioned by patrol officers on November 20, who had received a call of a suspicious person walking near Lynn Boulevard in Hazlet, an area that has seen multiple vehicle burglaries over the last week.

According to Hazlet Police Chief James Broderick, Cunningham had been suspected by detectives investigating the multiple burglary alerts, and their hunch was correct when he was brought into headquarters and found with many items that had been reported stolen.

Cunningham has been charged with 15 vehicle burglaries, third degree crimes, for each of the cars detectives were able to link him to, based on an inventory of the stolen items he had on his person, Chief Broderick said.

Monmouth County court records show that Cunningham was found to be in possession of a computer projector, a GPS, two bags of Boy Scout popcorn, and miscellaneous change, totaling an estimated $745, and giving him another third degree charge. Cunningham was also handed two charges in the fourth degree for having allegedly stolen a Garmin GPS, worth $229, and a black Lenora tablet, a brief case for the tablet, and a Swiss army knife, worth a total estimated $500.

Cunningham was found to be in possession of a Shell gas credit card, and charged with fourth degree Intent to Sell or Use a Stolen Credit Card. He was further charged with Forgery, after allegedly stealing a check book found in one vehicle and signing her named to a check he later cashed to himself for $650, according to court records.

Chief Broderick recommended that residents in Hazlet should check their vehicles for things like a stowed away gas cards and check books they might not even realize is missing, as detectives are still investigating unmatched inventory with reports from residents. He added that many of the vehicles that were burglarized had been left unlocked.

“People leave change visible in the cup holders, and even checks and check books, and then leave the car unlocked, because Hazlet is a good town where you feel you can do that still,” Chief Broderick said. “A resident may leave a credit card clipped to their car’s visor, and not realize it’s been stolen until they go to use it to get gas. We highly advise locking your vehicle if you must leave important items in your car.”

Court records show that Cunningham was also found at police headquarters to be in possession of a ”white powder”, believed to be cocaine, and subsequently charged with third degree Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS). Records indicated that Cunningham had a history of CDS arrests previously, with an involvement in a ”distribution operation”. Chief Broderick confirmed that Cunningham had been an initial suspect in the vehicle burglaries because the “department has had run-ins” with him previously.

Cunningham was brought to Monmouth County Correctional Institute pending bail of $105,000 in addition to bail of $10,000 on the outstanding charges from Holmdel for heroin possession. Additional charges for offenses committed in other municipalities are pending, according to Chief Broderick.

An arrest is not a conviction, and every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.